Cities: Skylines II - Console Release Window FAQ

[AndeP]

Hahah I've been saying this for months on the YouTube channel, never any news on console edition so there's no suprise. Why you feel the need to refund though is beyond me, just keep my money and give me a discount for future DLC purchases, which at least takes some reasonable accountability for failure.

 

[Upc239]

Thanks developers for the updated requirements. Can you look into or confirm super wide screen resolution 32:9?

 

[Danbyization]

The golden question that has not been answered is when console finally gets released will it be completely in sync with PC in terms of updates and DLCs or will it be forever X months behind like what happened with CS1 at the start and CS1 remastered?

 

[Rio90210]

I only have an ASUS Rog Ally to play on. It’s technically a windows PC, but the controls like a console? Is it going to be playable ?

 

[WolfBV]

I only have an ASUS Rog Ally to play on. It’s technically a windows PC, but the controls like a console? Is it going to be playable ?

I’ve seen it compared to a gtx 1650 and 1050 ti online. Assuming the gtx 970 minimum is 1080p 30 fps, I’d expect fps in the 20s with the lowest settings based on techpowerup’s gpu comparisons.

 

[ClemiMD]

I am quite concerned about the hardware specs. I have a GTX 1650 in my PC and CS1 was very smooth and enjoyable in FHD on full graphics level, even my current city with 200k+ inhabitants is fun to play. Okay, zooming into an area with some thousands of people walking around caused a noteable fps drop, but this was nothing harmful. Hard to accept that my 1650 is below minimum now.

 

[ChiefLEGOMAN1]

I am quite concerned about the hardware specs. I have a GTX 1650 in my PC and CS1 was very smooth and enjoyable in FHD on full graphics level, even my current city with 200k+ inhabitants is fun to play. Okay, zooming into an area with some thousands of people walking around caused a noteable fps drop, but this was nothing harmful. Hard to accept that my 1650 is below minimum now.

Minimum is GTX 970. I believe your GTX 1650 is above the minimum spec requirement.

 

[ChiefLEGOMAN1]

I'm not well informed on game development, but shouldn't it be easy to port the game to consoles especially since the console versions are using the codebase as PC. You'd also only have a few set hardware configurations to optimize for instead of the hundreds/thousands of PC configurations.

Just genuinely curious on how it's taking longer to port and optimize for console because from my position it seems like they've barely done any work on it.

 

[co_avanya]

As a console player, this is a big bummer. What about the DLC and the Content Creator packs that were valuable for the Ultimate edition? Are we still going to get that deal or will there be more included in that deal since by the time we get the game there will be more possible DLC in the pipeline?

Ultimate Edition will be available for console again at a later time. We will have more information coming.

Thanks developers for the updated requirements. Can you look into or confirm super wide screen resolution 32:9?

Super wide aspect ratios are supported for Cities: Skylines II.

 

[Noaqwerty1234]

This is a really big let down, and this isn't the first time. Remember Cities: Skylines remastered for Xbox series s and x and PS5 recently? There were a lot of DLC's missing and a lot of the free update roads weren't there. And now this with C:S 2 being half a year late. I was really excited about C:S 2 coming out at the same time on PC and console because I don't have the money so I can buy a gaming PC that can support C:S 2. And what's next? C:S 2 not releasing on Xbox series s? This is so frustrating how they just don't seem to give a shit about us on console.

 

[tamsi99]

@co_avanya Thanks for the reply but you / CO better start to communicate openly about your performance problems instead of some wide-screen support details. Those recommended specs for FHD are an unprecedented joke.

With that one single announcement, you / CO managed to completely kill the enthusiasm for lots of fans, both for PC and console. You made it clear that despite all big announcements of CS2 "being able to make use of the full power of your PC", the game will be another performance disaster like CS1. It is that performance problem that made me stop playing CS1 years ago. And now it is clear that CS2 will repeat that frustration. Why would I seriously spend that proud amount of money for CS2 under these circumstances?

I strongly recommend you now come forward in full honesty and explain where you are with that and how you intend to handle it, and whether DLSS is supported or not. You also better show how large our cities can get with a PC based on the recommended specs, demonstrating it with videos for FHD and 4k gameplay, showing FPS and lag behavior.

It is your only way to get back some trust. Without any further evidence that players will be able to meaningfully fill the larger maps with big cities and be able to play with reasonable performance, I assume I won't by far be the only one cancelling my Steam pre-order.

Time for CO to tell the truth, finally.

 

[aleryd85]

I see nothing about Mac computers. Does anyone have an idea which model could play this game? I used to play it on steam on my old MacBook Pro (now ancient, which is why I bought an Xbox). But might go for a computer/laptop instead as I don’t really want to wait for the release on console, seeing as the last release was delayed several years to console.

 

[Pixelclone]

This is my first post here, and I think it's important for you to hear my feedback. I am very disappointed and I have cancelled my Steam pre-order.

Increasing the minimum and recommended specs of the game so close to launch and with such an inadequate explanation is unacceptable and an insult to an excited and loyal fanbase.

I am no longer confident that the min/rec system specs we're being given are/will remain accurate, so I am not comfortable parting with my money until I've seen the game in its final form running with acceptable performance.

The updated specs seem outrageous and indicate to me that the game may be unoptimised which, if true, would be disrespectful to players who have supported Paradox for many, many years.

 

[BoraBora]

I see nothing about Mac computers.

There is not yet a Mac or Linux version planned. That may change... or not.

 

[ClemiMD]

CO already has a great trust bonus because it is a company with very few and sympathetic employees. Delays, problems and schedule changes are annoying for everyone involved, but they happen. It's also more likely to happen to a small company than to a large company. It happens, it's human. A small development studio can be forgiven for such mistakes. But the background and details should be communicated openly. That promotes trust. If ten people are fired at EA or Rockstar because they screw up something, that doesn't hurt anyone. CO would no longer exist if ten employees left. My request to CO: Be honest, own up to your mistakes, and speak plainly to your fan base. The resentment is not solely due to the announced changes in general, but largely due to the fact that no one really knows how and why exactly all of this is happening.

 

[Rio90210]

I’ve seen it compared to a gtx 1650 and 1050 ti online. Assuming the gtx 970 minimum is 1080p 30 fps, I’d expect fps in the 20s with the lowest settings based on techpowerup’s gpu comparisons.

bummer

 

[TrevorHall]

So what changed on the hardware recommendations and minimum requirements? I don't know what was changed and by how much.

A generic answer: Earlier specs looked like "a $1,500 2021 gaming PC" , and now they are more like "a $1,600 2022 gaming PC". But given the risks with DLC or wanting a real city near 1 million people (such as San Jose CA), I suggest "buy a 2023 gaming PC on black Friday" if you want to make a real city. They don't say how many parallel cores the game uses, so I have no idea if you need an 8 core, 12 core or (very recent and expensive) 16 core CPU? Best Idea: order game, don't but a PC, and wait for public performance reviews. As noted: Almost everything posted are "small towns" of 100K or less. I have never seen any city on this yet. Note: This game area is just a little more that the previous. They say "5 times the original 9 tile game" but: the current remaster is 25 tiles (so less than twice the map size, as 9*5 = 45) and somewhat smaller than "81 tile mod" on PC. So: Not sure why it is so demanding?

 

[mackau]

What about PC specs for higher screen resolutions (1440p and 4k)? Can you tell us something about this?

If they're saying a 12600k 6 core and a 3080 is the rec for 1080p, then higher resolution is almost surely gonna need 8 core, high end models, basically 12700k upward and having a 4080 is going to be desirable. Especially if there's no DLSS.

These specs are crazy high imo. Their recommendation for 1080p (!!) are, depending on exactly how you'd tally it, roughly the 5th most powerful CPU & GPU in Intel & Nvidia's product stack.

It's worrying.

We also don't know how big the city they're using as this recommendation on. Is it based on a low tier city with 10k people? Or the end-game cities which from my extrapolation of the XP/Milestone progression, will be somewhere in the order of 200,000 to 300,000.

I'm not well informed on game development, but shouldn't it be easy to port the game to consoles especially since the console versions are using the codebase as PC. You'd also only have a few set hardware configurations to optimize for instead of the hundreds/thousands of PC configurations.

It's probably got nothing to do with the port itself. More likely the company has to figure out how to get it running at an acceptable frame-rate on Xbox which has an equivalent power to a 9700k CPU & 3060 GPU, which are significantly less powerful than what the new Recommended specs are, and not massively better than the minimum.

MY GUESS is that rather than Cyberpunk it and get a massive backlash by releasing it now, it's being delayed to give them time to bring through PC Patches to the console version and give them more time to optimise. There's basically zero consequence if a PC game releases terribly, but if you screw up an Xbox or PlayStation game you get Sony & Microsoft on your butt, and if your game isn't performing properly you might not even get the approval to release it from them.

 

[Tropod]

Looks like my GTX 750 is going to struggle .

 

[Meesmoth]

If they're saying a 12600k 6 core and a 3080 is the rec for 1080p, then higher resolution is almost surely gonna need 8 core, high end models, basically 12700k upward and having a 4080 is going to be desirable. Especially if there's no DLSS.

These specs are crazy high imo. Their recommendation for 1080p (!!) are, depending on exactly how you'd tally it, roughly the 5th most powerful CPU & GPU in Intel & Nvidia's product stack.

It's worrying.

The high VRAM usage previously was a red-flag for me, and then they suddenly increase the recommended system specs only less than a month before release, which to me sounds like another red-flag.

Judging by the recommended specs, there's no way a lot of people will enjoy playing this game at max settings, since the recommended specs are already at the minority of PC players, as only a few people have 4090s as they're pretty expensive for casual users.

This game looks like going to end up like GTA IV or the TLOU PC port due to poor optimization. System requirements should decrease when it's close to release, not the other way around.